"Alpha" is the second album by the "supergroup", and once again comprises entirely of shorter, more commercially orientated songs than those of the members' previous groups. The album is very much a follow on from the band's debut album, but benefits from the famous four knowing each other that bit better, and thus working more cohesively together…

"Alpha" is the second studio album of Asia, released in 1983. It was the final studio album featuring the original lineup until 2008's Phoenix."Alpha" is dominated by the songwriting tandem of John Wetton and Geoff Downes. All the tracks on the album are written by Wetton/Downes, except for "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", by Wetton only. Steve Howe, guitarist and a key songwriting contributor on the debut album, was left out due to reasons not entirely clear.

The group's debut album, ASIA, was released 26 years ago in 1982, and remains one of only 4 albums in history to stay at the Billboard album chart position of #1 for a staggering nine weeks! Formed at the dawn of the MTV era, ASIA was the first super group of the 1980s, featuring members from Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and The Buggles. Videos made for the band's first two albums, Asia and Alpha, were a staple part of the historic music channel's initial programming. ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC captures the best of Asia featuring Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer and John Payne…

Like the Phoenix of the title of their 2008 album, Asia has risen from the ashes and made their first studio album with their original lineup in a quarter century. The remarkable thing about Phoenix is that in pure sonic terms, it could have appeared as the sequel to Alpha in 1985 instead of the Steve Howe-less Astra, which is a remarkable achievement in many ways, but what makes the album more interesting is that it is suffused with a sense of mortality. This is no doubt due in part to singer/songwriter/bassist John Wetton's brush with death via open heart surgery in 1997, but his frankness in regards to death gives Phoenix an emotional pull that Asia lacked on their twin blockbusters of 1982's Asia and 1983's Alpha.